Huge development in medical tech this week

A group of researchers in Mexico have found a cure for the Human Papillomavirus infection, the primary cause of cervical cancer

Apparently it’s non-invasive, using a drug to photosensitize the infection and then light of specific wavelengths

The treatment, which has been 20 years in the making, is shown to cure 100% of HPV patients without cancer and has been successful in over half the cases when patients already have cervical cancer- even if they don’t have HPV

Activision Blizzard has laid off 800 employees after “weaker than anticipated retail demand” though they made $7.26B in 2018, a $100M increase over 2017 and the best in Activision history

Who knows what things will look like next year after their CFO Dennis Durkin announced that they aren’t releasing any titles beyond Diablo Mobile in 2019

The worst part is how this is exclusively affecting lower-level employees- all the high-paid executives continue to make money hand over fist

Compare this to when Nintendo was operating at a loss for months after the release of the WiiU and then-president Satoru Iwata cut his salary in half, along with other executives taking 20-30% pay cuts

Accountability needs to start at the top, and that is so rarely seen in large corporations nowadays

Apple is being sued this month because, in the class action filing, people claim 2FA takes too long

The suit complains that it takes too much time out of a users day, and says its abusive because it can’t be removed after it’s been on for two weeks

It goes on to say that the login process pops up randomly (it doesn’t), that it takes 2-5 minutes (more like 20 seconds), that it’s a violation of California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (how?)

It demands, among other things, “all funds, revenues, and benefits” that Apple has “unjustly received”, but doesn’t list exactly what those might be

Respawn’s new game is here, and it’s definitely not Titanfall 3

Called Apex Legends, it’s a class-based free-to-play battle royale on PC, XBone, and PS4 with some polarized reviews

Fans of the Battle Royale genre think it’s great, with a lot of quality of life improvements that make it more friendly to new players than competitors, while people who were waiting for Titanfall 3 miss core gameplay like wall-running, slide-hopping, and of course Titans

It even includes features that allow you to avoid the voice chat- characters are chosen via round-robin, your drop point is set by a random teammate, and you can ping pretty much anything to alert your team about it or suggest an alternate route with “smart comms” in-game dialogue

According to their twitter, they tested the game for a month with no mics and randomized names to refine how it feels

Many people are impressed with the representation shown, with a range of races, genders, and sexual preferences included among the 8 characters

If nothing else, they’ve definitely knocked the playable characters out of the park. The trailer looks great, with solid personalities, and you can even play a Marvin!

Though many were expecting news about Titanfall 3 when this was announced, and Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has tweeted that there will be more Titanfall later this year, developers have gone on record saying that Titanfall 3 is not in development

Remaster of 2017’s PS4 and 3DS JRPG, it’s adding some new character-specific stories and a 16-bit-inspired graphics mode, alongside an optional fully orchestrated soundtrack that you can switch to on the fly

We’ll also see Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order on the Switch this summer

Team Ninja is bringing us the latest instalment of the ensemble action RPG series, featuring online and local play with up to four Switches

Yoshi’s Crafted World is getting a demo release today ahead of its March 29 release

We’re also getting a brand-new Fire Emblem on July 26th

Called Fire Emblem: Three Houses, it stars a customizable mercenary you can name and customize

It’ll also be the first Fire Emblem for over a decade that isn’t exclusive to handheld systems, technically

Square Enix is bringing a brand new action-RPG to the Switch this summer as well, called Oninaki

It has you traveling between the realms of life and death to save lost souls from turning into monsters

Deltarune: Chapter 1, the follow-up to Undertale, will be available for free on Feb 28th

Platinum Games is back at it again this August with a new title called Astral Chain, which looks like if Warframe and anime had a pretty badass lovechild

And of course it’s Platinum, so expect glorious over the top action fights

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is hitting the Switch this spring

This is a pretty crazy one I’ve had my eye on- originally released in 2017, it’s the story of a Celtic warrior with a severe mental illness who travels to Viking hell to rescue her lost lover

Apparently it was developed with a group of neural scientists to get a blend of psychological terror and an enlightening experience

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is getting a full 3D reimagining on the Switch this year

It looks like they’re using an entirely new toy-like art style, instead of repurposing the recent Zelda games for the 3DS

Apparently it’s one of the few Zelda games set outside of Hyrule, and actually has links to the Mario universe

It looks pretty cool, and if my Twitter is any indication people love it, so I might have to check it out

Final Fantasy 9 is out on Switch today, and 7 will be here on March 26th

Final Fantasy 10 and 10-2 are coming on April 16th, and later this year we’ll also see 12: The Zodiac Age

Considering this week was the 20th anniversary of FF8, I’m kind bummed it didn’t get a mention

Tetris Battle Royale is apparently a thing, and available today for free

Just like most other battle royale games, this is a competitive online multiplayer game pitting 99 people against eachother in a fight to be the last player standing

And Dragon Quest Builders 2 is coming to Switch and PS4 on July 12th

This one adds online multiplayer to the 2016 Builders formula, as well as larger structures, improved travel, and farming

We do a belated cover of the Smash Ultimate direct. As well as an intersection IMAX Marvel movie event thats happening across the country. Josh recommends a podcast with actor interviews and Alan recommends a podcast that can get a little dark.

For more info, Patreon supports get access to our show notes!

A huge thanks to Dalton, our favourite fan. And thanks to all our Official Fans that support us.
And if you want to support us too, its as easy as clicking this link!

Also, make sure to check out RIPT Apparel for sweet 24 tee shirt designs. And don’t forget to use the coupon code PS2JSHOW for 10% off!

Net Neutrality has taken a harsh blow, and there is a disingenuous video to follow it up. Star Citizen is struggling with lawsuits. Josh is playing a fun phone game you should check out and Alan has a show you should get back into, if you’ve fallen off the bandwagon.

For more info, Patreon supports get access to our show notes!

A huge thanks to Dalton, our favourite fan. And thanks to all our Official Fans that support us.
And if you want to support us too, its as easy as clicking this link!

Also, make sure to check out RIPT Apparel for sweet 24 tee shirt designs. And don’t forget to use the coupon code PS2JSHOW for 10% off!

Patreon is making some changes to payments, which don’t look good to supporters. Heroes of the Storm is seeing some changes. Josh recommends a TV show with a cartoon twist, Alan suggests a show that shows the untold story of super hero stories.

We try to be mature on this episode that precedes 170. Josh found a cool accessory for board game fans. Alan has a bunch of news on Destiny 2. Josh recommends a snarky YouTube channel, and Alan has a cool movie on Netflix for you to check out.